One Last Secret

So. Um. We’re still celebrating at our house. But it’s a different kind of celebrating than I did when all this happened. More like a holy-crap-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into? kind of celebrating. And a pack-your-entire-life-and-family-in-a-truck kind of celebrating.

Because people, the Giles family…

Is MOVING TO TEXAS!!!

That’s right, y'all.  Portland, Texas, to be specific, which is right outside Corpus Christi. Best part?

This.

We expect to be there just before Thanksgiving. Which means I will not be writing a novel this November, but I will totally be cheering on all my NaNoWriMo friends. So I’m dusting off my cowboy boots, donning my hat, and uncovering my long buried y'all drawl. Or, er, um. Okay, maybe I’m really just packing, but still. I’m SO. Excited.

Except the part where I have to leave behind people I love. That is not excitement. There will be many tears on moving day. (And hugs to all of you!)Remember how I told you all to do something big? Well. Yeah. This is kind of big, I think. Now it’s your turn, because after this, I’m going to need a long, long nap.

Now tell me. What new and exciting thing are you going to try this month? 

Fear of the Unknown

I think it’s safe to say we all have fears. Lots of them. (Not that some of us would admit to them, but they exist.) But have you ever made a major life decision based on fear? Or maybe you went with courage instead?

Seriously. Life is scary. Success is scary. Failure is scary. Commitment is scary.

Some people fear staying in one place long enough to matter, while others fear leaving that place in order to spread their wings, make more of themselves or their lives.

Playing sports, or letting our kids play them = scary. Skydiving, scuba, traveling to new countries, learning to drive, riding on a motorcycle, skiing, anything you’ve never done before. Starting a new project, changing careers, anything that signals the beginning of a new phase of life can be REALLY FREAKING SCARY.

Because once we do those things, there will be some kind of result. Good or bad. And sometimes, when we do something big, the results can be ridiculously terrifying.

But if we don’t take those chances, do those things, how boring would our lives be? And more importantly, how would we ever discover the most amazing parts of life?

Sometimes we all have to take the scary road.

Submit that novel. Query that agent. Apply for that job. Move to a new city. Ask out that guy/girl you like. Plan that party. Go somewhere foreign.

DO SOMETHING BIG.

This weekend, I challenge you go do something you’ve been putting off because of fear. And when you do, I want to hear about it.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Go! Go now!

Good luck.

Life is a Water Park

I’ve decided life is like a water park with a maze of slides.

From the bottom vantage point, you look up, see the twists and turns and hear other people squealing with glee, and you feel sprays of water, and you think—hey, this is going to be fun. So you start the trek upward.

You walk and then climb, sometimes carrying a tube or small child. The ground is hot, the line is long, and the sun beats down on your skin until you’re positive you’re going to be bright red by the end of the day. You wonder if the ride you’ve chosen is worth the wait. Worth the effort.

You’ve already come this far, so you might as well keep going, right? You climb some more. Sometimes, you pass slides or attractions that are lower down. Not necessarily easier, but more accessible. You wonder if you’d be better off going on those attractions. The line is shorter anyway. It might not be as much fun or bring the same kind of satisfaction, but it would still be a good experience, and you’d have the relief of being wet. Sometimes you ride that smaller slide, knowing that if you don’t love it, you’ll have to start the climb again. You’re okay with that, so you go.

In the back of your mind, you’re still dying to ride that big slide. The one you can see from a mile away in any direction. The one that few people ride because it’s so high up and requires so much work to get there. And that slide is scary. It has tunnels, and unknown twists and turns. And the pool at the bottom is deeper than the others.

Not everyone rides that slide. Not everyone wants to. From the top of the platform, you can look down and see people milling around at the bottom, basking in the sun, waiting under umbrellas, playing in the wave pool, taking completely different risks. Those people look happy. And they are. So why aren’t you down there with them?

You don’t want to be there, because some of us have a need to take a risk. To go that extra mile and fly down that slide. We’re willing to navigate the tunnels and the twists and turns, even knowing that we’ll have to swim for our lives once we get to the bottom.

We do this because it’s how we’re made. It’s what we need. It’s part of who we are. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out at ground level and basking under an umbrella, but it’s not for us.

In order for us to be successful and happy, we have to take risks. And so we do.

Have you taken any risks lately? Tell me about them.